How to Clean Wooden Floors

How to Clean Wooden Floors

Wooden floors, in their greatest state, often bring with them a sense of wonder. Indeed, it’s quite fascinating to see an actual tree become the shiny object that you step on. More than that, it’s completely smooth and seems to be far removed from typical wood, which is rough, prickly and often mundane. Even better is that these things can actually be a great source of pride for homeowners and offices. However, wooden floors can also be very fragile and difficult to maintain as dust and other particles often show themselves in broad daylight, requiring constant caution and key processes in order to keep it sparkling and safe from harm. What measures should be taken to keep the floors clean and shiny?

Sweep Your Floor

Your first enemy when it comes to wooden floors is dust. It’s what pollutes the air and makes you cough a little, and it can be especially punishing to those with allergies. Begin the process by sweeping with either your broom, brushes or cloth. It’s generally recommended to use the latter two since both (especially microfiber brushes) have a tendency to gather dirt stay in one place. Otherwise, you’ll need to be very careful with the broom and be sure to bring all the dirt into the dustpan, lest you end up spreading dust all over the house.

Remove Unnecessary Objects

This, of course, includes furniture and other objects which are standing on your wooden floor. The main reason for this is that you’ll want to have every section of your floor to be clean. When dust gathers on an uncleaned section of the floor, so does age, which weakens the integrity of said section and can eventually cause buckling. If your entire house has exclusively hardwood flooring, then you may need to move as many of your furniture outside (or at least, on cleaned sections). Do whatever is necessary to bring your floors into tip shape.

Mop Floors Carefully

For more aggressive dirt, you’ll need an equally-aggressive method. This means you may need to mop your floor, but particular caution must be taken here: water actually weakens the structural integrity of wood, so you’ll need to make sure that the mop is only damp, so that it can absorb dirt while keeping the floor as dry as possible. If unnecessary spills do end up happening, wipe the water immediately using a dry cloth. This also goes without saying, but you’ll have to avoid using vinegar as the acidity can end up melting the finish on your hardwood floor.

Maintain the Finish

Keeping your floor clean isn’t simply a matter of dusting off or removing whatever dirt might be present: that can only do so much until you realise your floor has stopped shining and is already filled with scratches. For this, you’ll need to keep maintaining the finish by polishing your floor. Follow the instructions on your polishing product. The frequency of this is anything between one to 2 months, or just when the floor starts to show some visible wear and tear.

Take Proactive Steps

Learn from the experience. What’s the reason behind the accumulation of dust on the floors? Do you walk around using dirty socks, or does your child? Do you sometimes forget to take off your shoes? If so, you should make new rules on your house to prevent more dust from coming in. If all of this goes well, you will end up having to clean your floor less often and enjoy the sparkling glow just a few weeks more.